Open Primaries

Tuesday, May 02, 2006

Arkansas: Independent Rod Bryan running for Gov.

Bryan meets deadline in independent governor's bid

Tuesday, May 2, 2006 By Doug ThompsonArkansas News Bureau FAYETTEVILLE - Rod Bryan of Little Rock submitted more than 11,000 signatures Monday in his bid to qualify as an independent candidate for governor, the secretary of state's office said.The signatures still must be verified and include at least 10,000 valid signatures of registered Arkansas voters for the record store owner's name to appear on the Nov. 7 general election ballot those of the major party candidates, Democrat Mike Beebe and Republican Asa Hutchinson."I'll bet I've collected 90 percent of the signatures personally," Bryan said in a telephone interview Monday."They could make it easier to make more people eligible to vote," Bryan said. "That's the biggest thing I've found on this drive. A lot of people aren't registered. There's a lot of apathy, too, that contributes to that. People expect you to be either a Democrat or a Republican. It reminds me of what my first campaign motto was going to be: If you must vote, vote for me."Bryan said he's running for governor as an independent because Democrats and Republicans undo whatever the other accomplishes on the environment and other issues..... more